Lightmap
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersNewark, United Kingdom
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Lightmap does
Lightmap Ltd is a privately-held, bootstrapped UK software company founded in 2009 by Mark Segasby and Simon C. Smith. It develops and sells HDR Light Studio, a specialized 3D lighting tool that enables real-time creation and editing of HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting maps for computer graphics rendering. The product's differentiator is its LightPaint click-to-light interface, which streams the connected renderer's view back into HDR Light Studio so artists can position lights directly on the 3D model and see reflections update live. HDR Light Studio operates as either a standalone application or via 17 native plugin connections into host 3D platforms (3ds Max, Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, VRED, Rhino, Modo, Omniverse, Unreal Engine, DELTAGEN, Patchwork 3D, SOLIDWORKS Visualize, Maxwell Studio, Octane Standalone, LightWave 3D), supporting major renderers including Arnold, V-Ray, Corona, Redshift, Octane, Cycles, RenderMan, FStorm, Mantra, and Eevee across Windows, macOS, and Linux.
The company monetizes through a mix of one-time node-locked licenses, annual subscriptions, floating network licenses, educational licenses, and maintenance contracts, with tiered Indie, Pro, and Automotive SKUs and a freemium trial that watermarks live textures. Distribution combines direct web-store sales with an authorized reseller network covering 11 countries and OEM-style embedding inside 3D software plugin ecosystems. Customer logos include Mercedes, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Sony, Nokia, and Microsoft, alongside thousands of individual 3D artists, automotive visualization studios, product manufacturers, photographers, and animation studios across more than 50 countries. The company employs 1-10 people out of Farnsfield, Nottinghamshire, has no external institutional funding, and has continuously shipped named product Drops at roughly six-to-twelve month intervals from 2015 through 2026.
Lightmap firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Lightmap
- Legal name
- Lightmap Ltd.
- Website
- https://lightmap.co.uk
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Lightmap industry classification
Industry- Product category
- 3D Lighting Software
- NAICS
- Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Virtual Production & LED Volume Services (Stage Ops, ICVFX, Real-Time Camera/Tracking) (MPADAHAB)
Keywords
Where Lightmap is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Newark
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Lightmap business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Software Licenses: Permanent node-locked licenses for single-computer use, with the ability to transfer licenses once per year to a new or second computer
- Subscription Licenses: Subscription-based licensing with documented retention periods of 10 years after the end of the last subscription purchased
- Floating Licenses: Network-based licensing using RLM license server, allowing multiple users to share licenses across a network, suitable for studio and enterprise deployments
- Educational Licenses: Specialized licensing programs for students, teachers, and campus-wide educational institutions with verification requirements
- Maintenance and Support: Annual maintenance and support renewals providing updates, technical support, and access to new features
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Indie License |
| Subscription | Annual | Pro License |
| Subscription | Annual | Automotive License |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Lightmap product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Lightmap develops and sells HDR Light Studio, a professional 3D lighting software for creating and editing HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting environments used in computer graphics rendering. The software operates either standalone or via live connections to 16+ major 3D software packages and 10+ renderers, enabling real-time HDRI map editing with a proprietary click-to-light (LightPaint) interface. The product is sold through node-locked, floating, educational, and subscription licenses.
Product overview
Lightmap offers HDR Light Studio as its core product, a professional 3D lighting software dedicated to creating and editing HDR lighting. The product can operate standalone or connect live to external 3D software through a portfolio of 17 native plugin connections. These connections integrate with major 3D applications including 3ds Max, Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, VRED, Modo, Rhino, Omniverse, Octane Standalone, Unreal Engine, LightWave 3D, DELTAGEN, Patchwork 3D, SOLIDWORKS Visualize, and Maxwell Studio. HDR Light Studio supports a wide range of renderers including Arnold, V-Ray, Corona, Redshift, Octane, Cycles, Eevee, RenderMan, FStorm, and Mantra. The company also provides free area light map textures. Available on Windows, MacOS, and Linux platforms.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- HDR Light Studio: Professional 3D lighting software for creating and editing HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting maps for computer graphics rendering
Products and services
- HDR Light Studio Professional 3D lighting software for creating and editing HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting maps for computer graphics rendering. Provides real-time HDRI map creation and editing with drag-and-drop simplicity and a click-to-light interface. Functions as a standalone application or connects live to 3D software for an interactive lighting workflow. Used by automotive manufacturers, product manufacturers, 3D artists, animation studios, and product photographers across more than 50 countries.
- Free Area Light Maps A free downloadable resource providing HDR area light map textures with alpha channels for use with area lights in 3D software. Includes 6 free studio HDRI maps and serves as a lead-generation and product-discovery asset for the core HDR Light Studio software.
Quantifiable outcome
- Work time reduced from 6 hours to 15 minutes - 96% time savings
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Lightmap
Customer profileNamed customers7 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Lightmap technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration16 records
Feature7 records
Lightmap partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered foundational and core.
- Right Hemisphere (Deep Exploration)foundationalFirst live connection partner for HDR Light Studio. Right Hemisphere's Deep Exploration software was the first 3D application to receive a live bridge with HDR Light Studio in January 2010, enabling customers to create perfect lighting for each shot rather than relying on library HDRI maps. This partnership helped establish Lightmap as a serious player in the 3D industry.
- NVIDIA (Omniverse)coreHDR Light Studio extension for NVIDIA Omniverse platform enables automotive, visualization and entertainment artists to create accurate photorealistic lighting setups more quickly. The connection supports RTX Real-Time and RTX Path Tracing renderers.
- 3D Software Developers (3ds Max, Blender, Cinema 4D, Maya, Houdini, Modo, VRED, Rhino, etc.)coreHDR Light Studio depends on and stands on the shoulders of 3D software and renderer developers. Multiple partnerships for plugin development including integrations with Arnold, V-Ray, Corona, Redshift, Octane, Cycles, and other renderers.
- Regional ResellerscoreAuthorized resellers in Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, and United States providing localized sales, support, and advice in customers' time zones and languages.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Lightmap competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Greyscalegorilla: Greyscalegorilla makes HDRI lighting kits, materials, and 3D artist tools (most prominently for Cinema 4D), positioning it as the closest direct competitor to HDR Light Studio in the professional 3D lighting tools niche.
- OTOY (Octane Render): OTY's Octane Render is a GPU-based physically-based renderer with its own lighting and HDRI capabilities, and integrates with HDR Light Studio; it competes for the same CGI artists and overlaps in automotive and product visualization use cases.
- Luxion (KeyShot): KeyShot is a real-time ray-tracing renderer widely used for product and industrial design visualization with built-in HDRI-based lighting. It competes with the use cases HDR Light Studio serves for product manufacturers and industrial designers.
- Next Limit (Maxwell Render): Maxwell Render is a physically-based renderer with strong lighting and HDRI workflows and is one of the official HDR Light Studio connection hosts. It targets overlapping architectural and product visualization customers.
- Marmoset (Toolbag): Marmoset Toolbag is a real-time rendering, look-development, and presentation tool with integrated HDRI and lighting features used by game, VFX, and product viz artists, overlapping significantly with HDR Light Studio's user base.
Broad incumbents
- Lumion: Lumion is a real-time architectural visualization tool with built-in lighting, sun, and HDRI features targeting architects and designers, an overlapping but broader end-market than HDR Light Studio's specialist CGI focus.
- Chaos (V-Ray / Corona): Chaos produces V-Ray and Corona renderers, both of which integrate with HDR Light Studio. It is a broad incumbent in photorealistic rendering with overlapping lighting tools across architecture, VFX, and product visualization.
- Twinmotion (Epic Games): Twinmotion is a real-time architectural visualization platform owned by Epic Games with built-in HDRI/lighting systems. It serves overlapping architectural and design visualization use cases but as part of a much broader AEC platform.
- Adobe Substance 3D: Adobe's Substance 3D suite includes Stager, Painter, and Designer with integrated lighting and HDRI capabilities for product viz and material authoring. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping artist tooling but is part of a much wider creative platform.
Emerging players
- Poly Haven (HDRI Haven): Poly Haven provides free and paid CC0 HDRI maps, models, and textures used by 3D artists, and is referenced by Lightmap as a content partner. It overlaps at the content layer but does not provide the live HDR editing workflow HDR Light Studio delivers.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Lightmap social profiles
Digital presenceLightmap financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Lightmap leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Lightmap funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Lightmap M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Lightmap
What does Lightmap do?
Lightmap develops and sells HDR Light Studio, a professional 3D lighting software for creating and editing HDR (High Dynamic Range) lighting environments used in computer graphics rendering. The software operates either standalone or via live connections to 16+ major 3D software packages and 10+ renderers, enabling real-time HDRI map editing with a proprietary click-to-light (LightPaint) interface. The product is sold through node-locked, floating, educational, and subscription licenses.
Is Lightmap a public or private company?
Lightmap is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Lightmap founded?
Lightmap was founded in 2009. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Lightmap based?
Lightmap is headquartered in Newark, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Lightmap make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Software Licenses are the primary driver. The others are subscription Licenses, floating Licenses, educational Licenses and maintenance and Support.
Who are Lightmap's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Greyscalegorilla, OTOY (Octane Render), Luxion (KeyShot), Next Limit (Maxwell Render) and Marmoset (Toolbag). Broad incumbents are Lumion, Chaos (V-Ray / Corona), Twinmotion (Epic Games) and Adobe Substance 3D. Poly Haven (HDRI Haven) is listed as an emerging player.
Does Lightmap have an API?
No public API is recorded for Lightmap.
What industry is Lightmap in?
Lightmap's product category is 3D Lighting Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPADAHAB, Virtual Production & LED Volume Services (Stage Ops, ICVFX, Real-Time Camera/Tracking). Its NAICS code is 541511 and its SIC code is 7371.